Chapter 8

Elvanya's Pov

The wine glasses were falling. The silver tray slid down, i saw the red wine splash through the air. I waited for the crash, the noise, the death. My eyes were shut tight, i braced for the sharp sting of glass and the final blow.

Then suddenly a rush of cold air hit me. It was very fast, like wind blowing right past me, colder than the stone floor outside at night. The sound of the falling glasses disappeared completely.

I opened my eyes slowly.

The silver tray was not on the floor. The glasses were not broken. They were perfectly still, standing upright.

King Kael was right in front of me. He was so close I could feel the heat coming off his body. It was a wall of warmth after the sudden cold air.

He was holding the tray. He had caught the whole thing, twenty crystal glasses full of wine. The glasses were perfectly still. Not one drop spilled on the black stone. He moved faster than my eyes could follow. Faster than anything should be possible for a man, even a beast.

Everyone in the High Hall was frozen. The beasts stared, mouths open, their hands paused halfway to their cups or food. The loud noise of their feast stopped at once. The silence was heavy and thick. It felt like the whole world was holding its breath.

Kael didn’t look at the beasts or the fallen wine glasses. He only looked at the tray and then at me. His silver eyes were intense and cold. They pierced right through my chest.

He lifted his hands slowly and held the tray out to me. He was giving it back.

I reached out and took it. When our fingers brushed, his skin was warm, almost burning. I felt a quick shock, a little bolt of lightning that shot up my arm to my shoulder. It was the same feeling as yesterday when he stood behind me. I flinched and pulled my hand back fast.

He let go of the tray without saying a word. He didn’t look at my face again but stared at the red wine on the tray as if it held all the answers.

He turned and walked back to the head of the long table. His chair scraped loudly on the floor as he sat down. It was a heavy, rough sound that broke the silence like a dropped weight.

He looked at the beasts around the table. He wasn’t happy, he looked deeply angry. His jaw was tight and his eyes narrow.

“Continue,” he said. His voice was flat and rough, but the command was clear and absolute.

The silence broke immediately. The beasts looked at each other, murmured, then talked and laughed again like nothing had happened, like a miracle hadn’t just saved a servant and two dozen glasses. They went back to eating and drinking, trying to ignore the King's heavy presence.

I stood there, my heart pounding. My hands shook again. The tray felt incredibly heavy now. The wine was safe, I was alive. I didn’t drop the tray, he caught it and saved me. He saved the glasses. He saved the wine, he saved my life.

I walked slowly back to the wall and put the tray on the side table near the door.

I looked at Senna.

She was staring at me from across the hall. Her empty eyes were wide. She didn’t look empty now, she looked confused and deeply scared. Like she had seen a terrible omen.

“I am alive,” I whispered to myself, but Senna seemed to hear it across the room.

She shook her head slowly, barely moving her lips. “He caught it. The King caught it. He didn’t even move his chair before he did that. It’s impossible for a human to see him move that fast. He saved the human slave, he saved you from death. This is not good, Elvanya. This is very bad. This means he is interested in you and the King’s interest is worse than death.”

We finished the service. I worked fast and quietly, moving like a machine, like a ghost. I tried to forget the feeling of his skin, the shock up my arm, and the frightening silence of the hall. I focused on the dull ache in my legs and the silver tray.

After the feast ended and the beasts left, Senna and I started cleaning. We wiped the tables and picked up the dropped scraps of food. We moved slow because we were very tired.

Cordelia walked into the hall. She was not happy. Her face was dark and serious. She looked right at me and came straight over with quick, loud steps.

“What was that performance?” Cordelia demanded softly, her voice a dangerous hiss only I could hear.

“I tripped. The tray fell. The King caught it,” I told her, keeping my voice even.

“I don’t know what you are, but you’re dangerous. You’re a risk to the whole wing. If he keeps looking at you, we will all suffer. The King’s interest brings only death. Don’t make him look at you again, be invisible.

If he saves you one more time, if you cause one more scene, I will kill you myself. I won’t wait for him to punish us all. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I understand. I will be nothing. I will disappear,” I promised.

Cordelia left fast without another word.

I looked at Senna, still wiping the table. She still looked empty and terrified.

“She’s right,” Senna whispered without looking up. “You have to be nothing. I wish he had let you fall and break. Then the danger would be gone from the hall.”

I didn’t answer. I was too tired to argue or think about her wish, i just wanted the day to end.

I went down to the servant quarters. I was too tired to argue, think, or even change my dress. I was done.

I lay down on the straw, pulled the blanket over me, and finally fell asleep fast and deep, the sleep I desperately needed.

I had a dream.

I wasn’t in the cold room. I was running very fast through a dark forest. The ground was cold under my feet. The trees were black, old, and twisted.

I looked up at the sky. The moon was there. It was huge, filling the whole space above the black trees. It was not silver but a deep blood red color. It was scary but beautiful and pulled me with a strong force.

I kept running toward the red moon, running with purpose though I didn’t know why I was going there. I felt like I was running home.

Then I heard a howl. A long, mournful sound full of pain, coming from right behind me, very close.

I ran faster. I felt a burning heat on my back, like running too close to fire. It hurt, a deep searing pain that made me gasp but I couldn’t stop running. I had to reach the red moon before the howl caught me.

The heat grew worse and worse. It was too hot. It was unbearable.

I woke up gasping for air.

I lay on the straw mattress. The room was dark and quiet. The other girls slept silently.

I was soaked with sweat and my whole body felt clammy. My skin felt burning hot. The heat was real and intense, right on my back.

I slowly lifted my hand and felt my back. It was hot to the touch, right between my shoulder blades. The heat pulsed steadily.

I sat up shaking and heard a small noise, almost a faint ringing in the silent room.

I looked down and saw faint light coming through my thin linen dress. The light was pale and silver.

I pulled the dress up over my shoulder and twisted my neck to see my back in the dark.

It was hard to see but something was there.

Not a wound or cut. It was a mark, a symbol.

The skin glowed softly with a pale silver light, the same color as the King’s eyes. It was a strange curved shape, like a crescent moon or a curled snake.

The heat came from the mark. It did not fade. It pulsed with that soft silver glow.

I quickly put my dress down and covered the glow, then lay back down and pulled the blanket high over my head. I was breathing shallow, scared breaths.

The glow was under my dress, on my back. It was real, i hadn’t imagined it.

I had a glowing mark that looked like the moon.

It appeared after I dreamed of the blood red moon and the howling beast.

I knew this was bad. This was why the King saved me, this was why I smelled different to him. This was why I felt the shock when he touched me. It was all connected to this terrible symbol on my back.